Week of May 5, 2014
Room Block Now Open for WCA Annual Conference 
Tax Exemption Information Regarding the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center
 
Lodging for the WCA Annual Conference, being held September 14-16, 2014 in Sauk County, is now open.  

WCA has room blocks at the Kalahari Resort & Convention Center and Wintergreen Resort & Conference Center in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. The hotel room blocks opened on May 1, 2014. All counties are responsible for booking their own hotel rooms at any of the WCA-selected hotels. (Rooms are booked on a first-come, first-served basis.)

Read on for more information on reserving your lodging, as well as learn about housing tax exemption information regarding the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center, by clicking here.

Wisconsin County Officials Workshops (COWS) Kick Off this Week

Every two years, UW-Extension's Local Government Center and the Wisconsin Counties Association host the County Officials Workshops (COWS).  This year's sessions will be held May 6-May 20 in seven locations around the state.  

 

 

 

New this year is online registration through WCA's website.  Registration is still open.

 

Register online for 2014 COWS here! (Click on the date on the calendar you'd like to register for and follow registration process.)

 

Apply Now for Innovations in American Government Awards  
 
Applications are now being accepted for the $100,000 Innovations in American Government Awards.

Offered by Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, the Innovations Award is the nation's premier award for the public sector. It recognizes programs that demonstrate creative and effective government at its best.

All units of government - federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial - from all policy areas are eligible to apply for recognition.  

This year, the Ash Center is also offering the Roy and Lila Ash Innovations Award for Public Engagement in Government, a special Innovations Award that will recognize government-led innovations that demonstrate novel and effective approaches to increasing public engagement and participation in the governance of towns, cities, states, and the nation.

The top winner of the Innovations in American Government Award and the winner of the Roy and Lila Ash Award will each receive a $100,000 grant to support replication and dissemination activities in 2015. Top finalists will also receive monetary grants.  Applications are due June 20, 2014.

Applications and additional information are available at
www.innovationsaward.harvard.edu

WCA Annual Conference Sneak Peek: David Maraniss

In the months leading up to the WCA Annual Conference in Sauk County, WCA will be highlighting our keynote speakers.  We encourage you to learn more about them and explore their work as well. 

The keynote speaker for the first general assembly on September 15, 2014 from 10:00 a.m.-11:45 a.m. is David Maraniss.
 
David Maraniss is an associate editor at The Washington Post and the author of six critically-acclaimed, best-selling books about history, politics and sports. His latest book, Barack Obama: The Story, was named a New York Times notable book of the year.

Among the most honored writers and journalists of his generation, Maraniss won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for his reportage on Bill Clinton; was part of a Post team that won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Virginia Tech tragedy; and has been a Pulitzer finalist twice more for his journalism, and once in history for his Vietnam work, They Marched into Sunlight. His other major books include First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton; Rome 1960: The Summer Olympics that Stirred the World; Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero; and When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi.

Maraniss, a fellow of the Society of American Historians, was born in Detroit, grew up mostly in Madison, Wisconsin, and attended the University of Wisconsin. In 2011, Maraniss received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from St. Norbert College.

WCA Services, Inc. Featured Program: Long-Term Care Insurance

WCA Services, Inc has negotiated an exclusive agreement built on the purchasing power of the Wisconsin Counties Association to offer long-term care insurance to your employees at a premium discount and at no cost to the county with Capital Lakes Financial.  Below is a brief article by the company:

   

What Are My Chances of Needing Long-Term Care?

We've asked the nation's smartest actuaries and here's the reply: Your chances of needing long-term care are either going to be zero or 100 percent.   

  

We can share with you a ton of great statistics provided by government and independent researchers (and we will). But none of it is really relevant to predicting whether you are going to need long-term care. Your chances are going to be zero ... or 100 percent. As Clint Eastwood would say, "are ya feeling lucky?" Isn't it smarter to do a little planning ... just in case.

But, for those who like statistics, here's one of the best studies we've found.

Estimated Years Of Long-Term Care Needed After Turning Age 65:
More than 5 years: 20%
2 to 5 years: 20%
1 to 2 years: 12%
1 year or less: 17%
None 31%

    

Learn more about this exclusive benefit by visiting CapitolLakesFinancial.com and clicking on the WCA Services, Inc. logo.

  

To take advantage of this offer contact Simon M. Liegel or Daniel J. Determan by email: contact@capitollakesfinancial.com  or call: 888.505.3956.
IN THIS ISSUE
Room Block Open for WCA Annual Conference
COWS Workshops Kick Off This Week
Apply for Innovations in American Government Awards
WCA Annual Conference Sneak Peek: David Maraniss
WCA Services, Inc. Featured Program: Long-Term Care Insurance
REGISTER FOR "TRANSPORTATION FORUM II"

County officials are encouraged to attend The Future of Transportation II June 4th in Appleton. 

The event, put on by WisPolitics.com and WisBusiness.com, is sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association, the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association and the Transportation Development Association of Wisconsin.

Lunch begins at 11:30 a.m., with the program running from noon until 1:15 p.m.

Congressman Reid Ribble will be the keynote speaker, followed by a panel discussion, Exporting Wisconsin: Transportation's Role in the Global Marketplace.

The price is $24 at the door and $18 if paid in advance. 

SPONSOR OR EXHIBIT AT 2014 WCA ANNUAL CONFERENCE

The WCA Annual Conference will be held September 14-16 in Sauk County.

To learn more about being an exhibitor or sponsor at the WCA Marketplace, held in conjunction with the conference, click here.

Watch a video about the benefits of being a sponsor or exhibitor at the 2014 WCA Annual Conference by clicking here.
PORTAGE COUNTY'S POTOCKI HAS SPECIAL CONNECTION TO POPE JOHN PAUL II

Portage County Supervisor Stan Potocki has a special connection to a soon-to-be saint.

Back in 1976, he was asked to provide security to Cardinal Wojtyla during a stop in Stevens Point.  Two years later, the Cardinal would go on become  Pope John Paul II.

Learn more about this story by watching a news story from WAOW-TV 9
MILWAUKEE COUNTY'S DILIBERTI ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT

Milwaukee County Treasurer Dan Diliberti has announced his retirement from his position as Treasurer, effective May 12, 2014.

Read the full media release here.
SAVE THE DATE: BROADBAND PLANNING SYMPOSIUM

On July 8th, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin will host their "Broadband Planning Symposium" at the Monona Terrace in Madison.

The goals for the event are to build partnerships with fellow stakeholders, explore broadband planning efforts, share broadband successes and challenges, and discuss broadband mapping.

To learn more about the July 8th Broadband Planning Symposium, click here.